Forbidden Mind (Forbidden #1)

by Kimberly Kinrade

  Amidst the crowd of school friends, a guard shadowed me.

  "That's new," Luke said, glancing at the guard.

  "Yeah. Wonder why they felt he was necessary." I hoped I hadn't given away something when I commented about the pregnancy to Dr. Sato. Did they suspect me of knowing too much?

  Lucy nudged me. "Don't let it bother you, chica. Try to have fun!"

  I forced a smile back onto my face. "You're right. Why not enjoy it?"

  We actually had a full-fledged ballroom, not just a gym they converted once a year for dances. We learned ballroom, swing, and modern dancing as part of our education. Parties at our school were high-end affairs.

  Scarlet red and royal purple silks draped the room. Lush roses accented the hall and served as centerpieces in crystal vases on the tables. A full band played music suited to dancing in many diverse styles, and students already swayed across the room in long trailing dresses and elegant tuxes.

  "Sam, come on, let's get some food!" Lucy and Luke pulled me to the buffet table.

  A dozen well-wishers interrupted us on our way there. The gift table overflowed with cards and special trinkets from friends.

  Only a handful of kids had left Rent-A-Kid so far. We were first generation paranormals. No one knew how we got our powers, but I was one of the oldest. Kids made a big deal out of these parties, even if they didn't know the person who left. It was the gift of hope, the promise of a future outside these chained grounds. No one missed a going-away party.

  It took us a while to navigate through all of our friends and make it to the food, but the spread of goodies made our trek well worth it. The table overflowed with mouthwatering treats. I reached to stuff a truffle in my mouth, but my stomach rebelled stubbornly at the smell. Damn pregnancy. I nibbled at some crab rolls instead, to appease my friends. I stole glances at the delicious treats, wishing on this miserable night that I could at least enjoy the chocolate.

  Everyone danced. One guy hovered off the ground while they moved to the music, doing breakdancing moves in the sky. He fell to the ground when his date burst into flames. Jessica, who'd been cooling drinks for her friends, blew on the girl to subdue the flames. The crowd erupted in applause. All except Mary, who'd snuck off with the breakdancing boy during all the commotion. I'd lost track of how many dates she had stolen from other girls that night. Typical paranormal party.

  Speak of the devil, Mary sashayed toward us, wearing a gorgeous black dress that left her shoulders bare and hugged her chest and hips in all the right places. Her blond hair fell in ringlets down her back.

  She puckered her lips at Luke and moved in a way that revealed her well-toned thigh and ample cleavage. Luke ignored her. I hid a smile.

  Mary scowled and looked at me. "Sam, you're back. We've missed you. Are you feeling well?"

  Did she really care? I kept my answers brief. "I'm fine, thank you."

  "I hear you're heading off to Sarah Lawrence soon. You must be so excited."

  Did she know something? Why the change of attitude? Niceness and Mary didn't go together, and I didn't trust it at all.

  But, regretting my behavior in the bathroom so long ago, I tried to play nice too. "Yes, it'll be quite an adventure."

  "Well, be sure to keep in touch." She walked away before I could reply that I would. Her shallow mind mused about the hottest boys in school. 'Gotta get my hands on Luke… how can he resist me?'

  I chuckled at that.

  Lucy pulled me away and demanded my attention. She stole the night in her electric blue gown that wrapped itself around her slim figure like saran wrap. Luke matched his bowtie to her gown, completing the look. They made an unforgettable pair.

  "What's up with Mary? Why wasn't she Grade-A Bitch, as usual?"

  She still didn't know about the bathroom scene. So much had happened since then. As I started to tell her, an achingly familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

  'Sam, can you hear me?'

  "Drake! Oh, my God, I've missed you. What happened? Where are you?"

  'In another hospital. I don't know where. I've been trying to talk to you, but you haven't replied.'

  In my hospital, they'd given me an IV. Could it have been something to control my powers? I could still read Dr. Sato's mind, and kids on campus, but maybe it prevented me from linking long distance.

  "I think they did something to me so I couldn't talk to you. I'm out of the hospital now, but I'm at my going-away party. I'm supposed to be leaving for New York tomorrow."

  'You were in the hospital? What happened? Are you okay?'

  He had no idea about what I'd been through or that I was pregnant. What to tell him? Ahh… I so did not want to have this conversation.

  My hand went to my stomach again.

  "Sam, you okay? You look pale. Come sit down." Luke guided me to a chair and Lucy brought me some punch. My guard hovered nearby, trying without success to blend in.

  "Hey. I have to talk to my friends for a minute."

  'Sure.'

  I spoke in our language. "Drake's okay. He's in some hospital. But I… I have to tell him about the baby."

  They nodded sympathetically and watched over me while I linked back to Drake. "I need to talk to you about something, but I don't know how to say it."

  'What's wrong? Are you okay?'

  What could I do? I just blurted it out. "I'm pregnant. And it looks like you're the father."

  And that is how I turned the whole world quiet for a moment. Drake sat in mental silence. Luke and Lucy looked heartbroken. And the rest of the world disappeared.

  Drake broke the silence first.

  "I believe you. And I think you're right. I think they're… um… harvesting me for reproductive purposes."

  Despite how horrible everything seemed, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at his choice of words, at how proper he was trying to be. Lucy and Luke eyed me curiously. I explained what Drake had said. Lucy blushed, and Luke laughed.

  I sobered up pretty quickly, though. How could he be so certain? "What did they do to you?"

  'I can just tell that things were done to… parts of me. I didn't know what to make of it until now. How do you know you're pregnant though? They didn't tell you, did they?'

  "No, but I overheard some of the doctor's thoughts. And Luke saw the records. That's why they took you. You have incredibly strong and very rare para-powers. And I can tell. My body is different."

  Luke and Lucy interrupted our conversation with a glance over my shoulder. I turned to look.

  My bodyguard headed our way. "Is everything okay?"

  I smiled as sweetly as I could. "Of course! Just tired from all the partying."

  Muscleman nodded and walked back to stand in my shadow.

  The night crawled on. After the formal dancing, the music picked up and included songs our age group actually knew. I declined all offers to dance, instead spending my time with Lucy, Luke and Drake. It was odd, how natural his presence felt.

  My headaches had become less severe the more I practiced remote linking. My powers were getting stronger, more controlled. Before, everyone's thoughts inundated me, but now I could tune out people selectively. Such a relief from all the inane clattering. Most people didn't understand, bombarded with their own thoughts, unable to find peace in even that. To have that multiplied by everyone around me was hell. And people generally weren't very interesting. Most of their thoughts were recycled, replaying on an endless loop.

  My appetite improved halfway through the party, and I ate a little bit of everything on the table, finally satiating my craving for chocolate.

  The party wound down after 1 AM. All of our friends said their goodbyes and wished me luck. Envy and hope surfaced in their eyes. Everyone yearned for the time when they could be free to live the life of their choosing.

  For a moment, I longed for the false peace that accompanied their ignorance. They all had such hope—the hope I tore from my closest friends, who now got to stay here knowing that their future would n
ot be the one promised. I pushed away the twinge of guilt that crept into my heart. They needed to know. I needed to know. We couldn't escape the truth by remaining blind to it. Now that the truth had been forced on us, maybe we could find a way out of this mess.

  What would they do to me once the baby was born? Would they keep using my body for more and more pregnancies, until I became a useless shell? Then what? Kill me? Being a Rent-A-Kid prisoner seemed a much better life compared to a future as a baby factory, all the while knowing that my children were here, rented out like property, awaiting the same fate as me.

  I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let that happen.

  'Neither will I,' Drake said.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I opened the link to us."

  'I think your thoughts are starting to filter through.'

  Interesting. Could the pregnancy be changing me and connecting me to him in some new way?

  We arrived at my room with my ominous shadow right behind us. Would the guard lock me in tonight to keep me from trying to escape?

  Where would I go? How would I save Drake? I had too many questions, no answers, and no idea what to do.

  Lucy and Luke came in, and we all sat on my bed, with me in the middle. I lived in the manner in which my many personas would have expected to live: in luxury. No doubt, my new quarters would not be this fine. After all, my new role didn't require me to be comfortable and at ease in wealth, did it? I just had to ovulate properly.

  "What do we do?" I spoke out loud in our made-up language, but English in my mind. Confusing, but I didn't know who might be spying on us.

  "You should try to escape tonight," Luke said. "We could help you get out. There's a gate by the north field that had a shortage last night. We could get through that."

  "You don't think they're monitoring those too? And what about the brick walls past the gate? And whatever is beyond that? There's also the matter of my little friend outside the door. He already suspects something. He's not going to let us just walk out."

  Lucy fought tears. "You can't let them take you, Sam."

  My body numbed. "What else can I do right now? We can't escape with so many people watching. And I can't leave Drake, wherever he is. They'll probably put us in the same facility, right? I mean, if they're using him to breed, then we should be able to find each other. Maybe we can escape from there, and then we can get help for you guys."

  'I will do everything I can to get us out of here, Sam. I swear it. I need to get off these drugs, and I think I know a way. If you're brought here, you can help. We can do this. But if there's any way for you to escape before getting here, you have to take it!'

  'I'm not leaving you alone there. I'll find a way to get us both out, and we'll find a way to save the rest.'

  "I have to go. I have to get evidence of what's happening here." I scooted off the bed and went to my backpack. Inside, hidden in a secret pouch, lay a tiny camera. I'd kept it out of impulse, though it was against rules.

  I palmed it and brought it back to the bed with me. "Look discreetly at my hand. I have a camera that I stole from my last job."

  Luke's eyes widened. "You stole a camera?"

  I nodded. "It has pictures of me and Tommy on it. I gave him the pictures I had, and I just wanted to keep these."

  "How were you ever planning on developing them?" Lucy asked.

  "I wasn't thinking about all of that. I just had to have something to prove I knew him."

  Lucy sighed. "So you want us to take pictures of this place?"

  "Yes, I have artwork depicting everything and everyone here, but I doubt that will count as hard evidence. Especially get pictures of the kids with obvious para-powers."

  Luke scratched his head. "Assuming we can get those pictures without getting caught, what would we do with them?"

  'My reporter friend in California—Brad. We could send it to him, if we can figure out a way to get to a computer. He probably wonders by now what the hell happened to me.'

  "We need to find a way of getting this to Drake's friend." I gave them Brad's email and phone number, and handed Luke the camera. "Get this to him. Tell him everything we've told you and everything you've experienced. At least someone on the outside will know that we exist and need help."

  A knock at the door startled us all. Luke slipped the camera into his pocket.

  The door opened. "It's time to go," the bodyguard said to me.

  "I thought I was leaving in the morning?" Panic rose in my chest. This was too real, too fast.

  'Relax, we'll find a way to get out.' I wondered what it would be like to meet Drake in person. He filled my imagination—his voice, his scent, the feel of his skin. He'd taken up residence inside my body somehow. Would that change when we really could touch, when I could actually smell him and feel him for real?

  "Plans changed. Get your stuff and say goodbye." He grabbed two of my biggest bags. I picked up my backpack and a small suitcase—all of my worldly belongings. Apparently, they'd packed everything while I was in the hospital. How thoughtful.

  Lucy's tears finally fell. Even Luke's eyes watered. From the time we were little, we'd only been apart during assignments. Now we might never see each other again.

  I hugged them both, then shoved my sketchpad and pencils into my backpack, threw on my jean jacket, and walked out of my room for what would likely be the last time.

  The bodyguard closed the door, and Luke and Lucy, behind us.

  I turned to him as we walked down the hall. "Don't I even get a chance to change my clothes?" I wiped my eyes carefully to avoid the makeup raccoon look.

  "You can change when you get to your new home. Your flight was changed. We leave now."

  No one from the school administration came to give me a final farewell. Strange. Usually they made a big showing, but I guess at 3 AM it didn't matter. And I suspected no one wanted me that close to their thoughts right now, even if they didn't know the whole truth.

  "Drake?"

  'I'm here,' he said in a gentle voice.

  "I'm scared. What if they don't put us in the same hospital? What if we can't escape?"

  Even my mental voice wavered from unshed tears. We risked so much, banking all our hopes on an untested possibility. We could be wrong. So very wrong.

  'I'm scared too, but we have to believe this will work out. What choice do we have?'

  He was right. Even if this plan—hell, it wasn't even a plan, really, more like a pipe dream inspired by desperation—but even if we knew for a fact that it wouldn't work, what else could I do? We had no way to escape, nowhere to go, no one to call. This had to work.

  The guard loaded my luggage into the limo, ushered me into the back seat, and hopped into the driver's seat. As usual, we headed to a private airstrip that Rent-A-Kid presumably owned. They flew kids in and out of there regularly.

  I boarded the plane in silence, wanting to be alone in my thoughts. If the guard wondered about my lack of enthusiasm for my new life, he said nothing. Perhaps he chalked it up to me being tired—which I was. Or being sad about leaving my friends for a life I didn't know—which I was.

  I plotted silently, trying to imagine all the different scenarios that might present themselves to me, and how I would handle them.

  I always mentally prepped for assignments this way. They gave me a brief that told me my identity and what I'd be expected to do, then I made the rest up in my head and got myself out of all sorts of crazy scenarios. Somehow, reality had never quite matched the excitement or danger in my imagination.

  And this time? I shivered as the possibilities raced through my mind.

  The guard asked for my arm, and injected me with a drug to knock me out.

  I reached for Drake.

  He answered. 'I'm here. Rest. I'm here.'

  As a parting gift, he sent me an image of Venice Beach at sunset. Waves crashed to the shore. The sun rested on the swells in bursts of oranges and reds and yellows. I fell asleep to his version of paradise, with the s
alty taste of seawater in my dreams.

  Chapter 8

  Once again, I woke up in a hospital bed—a trend I needed to change—but this time I was strapped down to it. I flexed my legs and arms, pulling on the restraints, but the drugs made me weak as a kitten. No matter. Even my full strength wouldn't have enabled me to break free.

  My heart raced as panic gripped me. The sterile room offered no unique markings or identifying traits, just a sink, chair, bed, stool, and empty tray. Standard medical supplies lined the walls. Nothing helpful.

  I instinctively reached for Drake.

  And I reached too hard. 'Sam!' His voice filled my head, crushing my mind with the volume.

  "Ouch! Shhhh… don't shout. My head is already pounding."

  'I'm not shouting.'

  I tried dialing down my link to him, imagining it like a volume control; now that the speakers lay closer, I didn't need the volume so high.

  'Are you okay?' His voice stopped splitting my skull.

  "Yes. We must be really close for this to happen."

  'Show me your room,' we both said at the same time, and laughed.

  Our rooms were identical, but that didn't mean much. We could still be too far apart to plan our escape.

  The nurse came in, and—

  'That's her, my nurse!' Drake said. 'You must be in the right place.'

  I forced myself not to smile.

  "Oh, you're awake!" She looked so startled. How long had they expected me to stay asleep?

  "How long have I been unconscious?" I asked Drake.

  'Since yesterday.'

  I'd rarely been out for longer. No wonder it felt like something furry had taken up residence on my teeth. What would all these drugs do to the baby? I forced myself not to cover my stomach in reflex.

  Best to act ignorant for now, see what I can find out. "I'm supposed to be in New York. What happened?"

  If her nervousness was any indication, she wouldn't tell me the truth, at least not out loud. "Oh, I think it's best if I get Dr. Pana. He can explain everything." She looked barely old enough to drink legally. At 5'0" with dark blond pigtails and freckles under her green eyes, even I looked tall and grown up compared to her. Did adults even wear pigtails? Where did they get this kid?